If Ratchet is the Autobots' chief surgeon, then Hoist is their family doctor. Everyone reports to Hoist for routine check-ups and maintenance, no exceptions! A jovial, friendly robot, the up-beat Hoist enjoys his job and it shows. He speaks with a cultured British-sounding accent and can usually be found playing "Dr. Watson" to his friend Grapple's troubled artist in his off-hours.

Preliminary name: Winch

Italian name: Bufalo

Hungarian name: Csörlő

Portuguese name (Brazil comic):Guindaste

Portuguese name (Portugal comic):Roldana

French name (Canada):Treuil

Contents

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

An early mishap involved Hoist, Grapple, the Constructicons, and a Solar Tower. Prime rejected the idea, but Grapple and Hoist persevered on it anyway. The Constructicons lent assistance to build the tower before sealing the builders within it so that the Decepticons could use it, exactly as Prime had feared. The entire situation was hardly Hoist's cup of tea. The Master Builders

During a spot of gosh and bother with some frightfully rambunctious ruffians, Hoist and Warpath were transported backwards in time to medieval England, and they hadn't the foggiest idea of how to return home or how to take a brief respite for their exhausted energy supplies. A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court

Following these misadventures, Hoist and some of his fellow Autobot chums were cast in a dubiously written and directedmotion picture. Our boy was repeatedly referred to as "Moist". Certainly not fit for viewing by Her Majesty. Hoist Goes Hollywood

Marvel Comics continuity

Hoist was one of a group of Autobots who allowed their brainwave patterns to be encoded on crystals and stored aboard the Ark in case more warriors were needed. Despite the fact that the Arkdid come under attack during that mission, these warriors were not taken out of storage until after the Ark crash-landed on Earth and spent four million years collecting dust before reawakening in 1984. However, once the Autobots got their act together, Hoist and his crystal-stored friends were reactivated and sent with Bumblebee on a training mission. Rock and Roll-Out!

Later, Hoist was sent to Alaska to track the Constructicons. While sneaking up on their base, he fell into an old snow-covered mineshaft, and became wedged in place, requiring rescue. But when Jazz came to his aid, he was shot in the head, and Hoist had to wrangle his brain-damaged teammate to safety while being hunted by the Constructicons.The Mission

When Optimus Prime, Prowl and Ratchet disappeared, Hoist took part in an early assault against Galvatron and his lieutenants and patched up Mirage when he fell during the clash. He later joined Jetfire's team in ambushing Scourge. Target: 2006 Some time later, he accompanied Optimus Prime in rescuing Highbrow from Scorponok's Decepticons and ended up mistakenly battling Rodimus Prime's future Autobots before he was called upon to patch up an injured Goldbug.Time Wars

When an Underbase-powered Starscream announced that he would "destroy the cities of New York, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires," Hoist was among the allied Autobot/Decepticon teams sent ahead to New York City. As Starscream approached, Goldbug led a team of Autobots which included Hoist, and the entire team was destroyed with a "single wave of Starscream's hand"! Oops. Dark Star!

Marvel UK future timelines

Dreamwave comics continuity

Nine million years ago, Hoist was allied with the Autobot cause when Optronix first rose to become Optimus Prime. He was briefly seen helping make the preparations to abandon Cybertron, in response to the new Prime's orders. The War Within

After the Great Shutdown, Hoist was one of several Autobots Shockwave "helped" into a position of power as the Autobot High Council. Ostensibly, Shockwave was to rule beside the Council as the Unified Cybertronian government. In fact, however, Shockwave arranged for the council to be composed of Autobots whom he could easily manipulate, and so slowly amassed the majority of true political power for himself, leaving Hoist and his comrades as little more than figureheads. When Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark returned to Cybertron and helped lead the various Autobot resistance cells in outright insurrection, Hoist and the rest of the High Council finally got the wake-up call, and took to the streets alongside their fellow Autobots, overthrowing Shockwave entirely. Revelation

There were several victims of the revolution, however, including Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. Hoist personally attended to their recuperation cycles. Black Sunshine Later, he accompanied Prowl and the Ark's crew back to Earth, where they set up camp and prepared for the construction of Autobot City. He was last seen going over Hound's holographic blueprints with Grapple. The Route of All Evil

Note:Hoist was all-but left out of Dreamwave's story. Although the War and Peace TPB confirmed that he was intended to be a member of the High Council, Hoist was apparently juuuuust off-panel throughout that entire series, making only a one-panel cameo in a flashback from issue #6. He did not actually make a modern appearance in the timeline until "Black Sunshine".

A retool of 1984's Trailbreaker featuring a new head and an orange towing apparatus to replace Trailbreaker's canopy, Hoist transforms into a green Toyota Hi-Lux pickup. The truck has blue tinted windows and black and yellow caution decals running the length of the body side. In robot mode Hoist is mostly green with chrome legs and orange trim. The toy comes equipped with two plug in fists, but Hoist is usually depicted with one hand and one weapon. The spring-launchers in his forearms were severely diminished for all US releases of the toy.

In Mexico, Hoist retained the original Trailbreaker head, but cast in green plastic. Weird.

Hoist was re-issued in Japan in 2001 as part of some damn one-day convention deal. He was later re-re-issued in 2003 by Hasbro as part of the Toys 'R' Us exclusiveCommemorative Series.

Machine Wars

"Really now, chaps. Black, this is simply too much."

Hoist (Basic, 1997)

Accessories: Grill/rifle

A mold originally designed for --but never released in-- Generation 2, Machine Wars Hoist is a redeco of Machine WarsHubcap, transforming into a Kenworth W900 wrecker truck. He is a "flipchanger", meaning most of his transformation sequence is completed after activating one lever (in his case, his towing hook). His rifle is made up of his front grill and bumper.

Oddly, Hoist's colours appear to be based upon Trailbreaker's original toy.

Universe

Hoist (Spy Changer, 2003)

Universe Hoist is a redeco of the Robots in DisguiseSpychanger version of X-Brawn, transforming into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV. He features through-axle wheels to allow for super-fast rolling on smooth surfaces.

Originally a Kay-Bee stores exclusive, the first release of this toy (and the others in the assortment) did not have any sub-line designation at all, but later releases for other chains, most notably "budget" chains like Family Dollar, marked them as Universe product.

Hoist (Spy Changer, 2006)

Accessories: Rifle

This version of Hoist is identical to the last Kay-Bee exclusive redeco of Robots In DisguiseIronhide, transforming into a translucent blue Ford F150 Flareside pickup truck. He was available only on an individual card from discount chains like The Dollar Store.

Notes

Like all of the other 1984~1985 Autobot "cars", the first Hoist toy was originally from the Japanese Diaclone toyline as a piloted mecha. The "4WD Hi-Lux Wrecker-type" came in two different color schemes: red with black kneecaps and yellow wrecker-rig, or in blue with red kneecaps and yellow rig, which was available in a two-pack with the Diaclone toy that would become Crosscut. Yes, the green-and-orange coloration was made up specifically for Transformers.